The New Tenant

Not too long ago I wrote a story about Keith Lyman’s new (albeit empty) crib. In that story I mentioned Keith was looking for a roommate to fill one of the empty rooms. Originally that little note was supposed to be a sarcastic joke of sorts, but it quickly grew into an all out competition to live with Lyman.

I received a lot of e-mails, résumés, and letters of recommendation from hopeful riders all over the country (and even into Canada) who were really, really excited about the possibility of paying Keith rent. Keith was shocked by the amount of interest that little story received and super appreciative of it all, but, understandably, he wasn’t too comfortable with having a complete stranger move into his new house. So when Nor-Cal ripper Garrett Morris gave me a call asking if Keith really was looking for a roommate, I immediately put the two in touch. They had met before and Garrett seemed to be a great fit as a “winner” of this supposed “roommate competition.”

Garrett, originally from the small town of La Honda in Northern California, had a quiet season last year after seeing some magazine coverage and even an appearance on an episode of Pull the year before. Ready for a little change of scenery, Garrett flew out to Orlando last week and staked his claim in Lyman’s extra room. Garrett is stoked on his new living situation, as he’s living with one of the best wakeboarders in the world and getting to ride a lot more than in La Honda. As of today he’s already ridden as much in the last week as he did all of last summer. He’s also neighbors with some other pretty talented and extremely nice people. Emily Copeland-Durham and husband Kevin moved in across the canal from Keith, and Jeff McKee is about ten minutes away. So Garrett’s a little bit more “in the scene” now.

As wakeboarders, Keith and Garrett make good housemates because both ride for Liquid Force and Xcel. So now those companies can just send the boxes of stuff to the same address, rather than two different ones, and if one runs out of stickers or something, he can just raid the other’s stash (roommates that share get along much better). Plus, the two can help each other out with a lot of things. For instance, Keith is looking to do a little remodel work to his new home and Garrett has spent many of his summers working construction, so he’s handy with fixing things and stuff. Keith also wants to learn to play the guitar better and Garrett just happens to know a thing or two about that. And Garrett wants to get better at wakeboarding but has a weak knee, and Keith might know more about wakeboarding with weak knees than anybody else out there.

So there you have it. The dust has settled and the “competition” to be Keith’s roommate is over. Congrats to Garrett Morris for “winning.” Enjoy the new life.